Less Complicated
by JumpingCattleHockey
Summary: Self-made challenge: Prevent "Partings" from happening in under 5 chapters. Takes place immediately following "Driving Miss Gilmore".
1. Luke's Diner

_Author's Note: I wrote this in August 2015. I was in the middle of "Defining All In" and experiencing a bout of writers block. I decided to watch a few late season 6 eps to torment my soul. After "Driving Miss Gilmore", I decided I could not take the particularly acute pain of "Partings" just yet, and challenged myself to prevent it from happening entirely. And then I thought, "And you have to do it in 5 chapters, because the last thing you need is another epic-length fic." I did it in 4. *fist pump* Angst ahead, but hang in there._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Luke's Diner**

A black car pulled up in front of a diner.

From a stranger's perspective, the occupant would have appeared to be some kind of celebrity given her large, dark sunglasses worn in the evening and the self-confident way in which she carried herself. She exited as her driver held her door open for her and told him she would only be a few minutes; the business she had to take care of would not take very long. Observing the "closed" sign on the glass door in front of her, she squared her shoulders and approached with a determined look upon her face.

The doors chimed as she entered the establishment, and she seated herself at the counter next to a man who was slowly and methodically sipping a glass of water.

"Be with you in a minute," called the proprietor from the kitchen.

"Is he always here this late?" the woman projected loudly enough to be heard by the man in the back.

Luke Danes' surprised face appeared in the cut-through to the kitchen.

"Emily."

"Hello, Luke."

"Kirk, what are you doing?" Luke asked as he exited the kitchen.

"Finishing my water," Kirk replied, offended.

"Why are you still here? Where's Lulu? I thought she said you were going out tonight," Luke questioned him with a frown.

"Oh. I think she was waiting for me. I don't really know where she went."

"Go find your girlfriend, Kirk," Luke sighed, grabbing the glass of water.

Kirk stood, nodded, and walked out the door.

"And you, Luke, why are you still here? Where's Lorelai?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen her today. Probably at home."

"Your home?"

"No, her home."

"Which is still not your home? I was under the impression you had it renovated for the two of you," Emily's right eyebrow quirked upward.

Luke hesitated.  
He didn't have much of an answer for that.  
He wasn't entirely sure himself.

"It's complicated," he muttered, moving past her to flip the sign hanging on the door to "closed".

"I see. And your girlfriend is there," Emily pressed, her eyes following Luke's every move.

"Fiancée. And yes, unless she's still at work."

"Fiancée implies a future wedding; no such date exists. Lorelai left work early today. She's been running me around much of southern Connecticut on various errands. I had surgery on my eye that didn't go particularly well. Did you know that, Luke?"

Luke was feeling a combination of impatience and confusion, which was quickly merging to become outright aggravation. Still, he felt an obligation to keep his cool with his future mother in law, particularly as she'd just had a surgery he hadn't know about, and let out a sigh.

"No, Emily, I didn't. I'm sorry to hear about your eye. I guess that explains the sunglasses. Is it better?"

"My eye will be fine. My daughter, however, is not at home, nor is she at her inn. I stopped at both places first. I did not intend to come in here initially, but seeing as I'm out of the most likely options for my daughter's whereabouts, I thought perhaps I would visit with the man intended to be my son in law."

"What are you getting at?" Luke retorted.

"The last time I sat here, I made you a promise to stay out of your relationship with my daughter. I've kept that promise. And now, I'm going to break it," Emily laced her fingers together in front of her on the counter, "I'm going to break it because I wonder how much of a relationship there is left to stay out of."

"What do you mean, how much of a relationship is left?"

"You're losing her. If you haven't lost her already. I'm not sure where she is either. I seem to recall her ending one engagement with a last minute road trip. She may be on another one for all I know. Her phone is off, her car is gone, her house is dark. Her fiancé is oblivious, going about his evening... " Emily shrugged, "It's all very familiar."

Luke felt like he'd been hit with a bucket of ice water. His instinct was to kick Emily out of the diner and race for the truck. However, common sense prevailed, and he knew that if Lorelai had truly left, she wasn't going to be found until she wanted to be. Instead, he would continue to argue with the all too calm and collected woman in front of him... who seemed to be implying she knew far more about Lorelai than he did.

"And you think you know her better than I do? I'm not sure she'd agree. The two of you don't have the closest relationship," he argued.

"Close enough that I held her while she wept on my shoulder this evening, which is closer than I've been to my daughter since she was a child. And I wasn't the source of her tears, Luke."

Emily felt her jaw clench as she recalled the scene in the realtor's office not two hours ago. Lorelai was strong and had never been in need of an overprotective mother. However, there had been a few times when the men in Lorelai's life had driven her to enough pain that Emily had stepped in. She had been ready to physically remove Christopher from her house once, and now she felt herself nearing the point of tearing Luke apart with her bare hands.

"What… why... why was she crying?" Luke stuttered, feeling himself growing increasingly uneasy.

"My daughter made room for you in her life. The house she has always been so proud of being able to afford herself without our help was opened up and expanded so you could join her there. Rory is a part of your life and has been for at least half of her's. I recall you were at her graduation. Tell me, if your daughter were graduating this year, would Lorelai be there with you?"

"Emily, it's… complicated."

"That's the second time you've said that. To which complications are you referring?"

Initially, learning of April's existence had made Luke's world upend itself, and everything had seemed confusing. It wasn't confusing any longer, but he'd been so out of sorts, he wasn't even sure what he'd settled and what was still left to sort out. Or if there even was anything left.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

"I suggest you figure that out very quickly. Maybe Lorelai can provide some insight and help make 'it' less complicated. Whatever 'it' is. You used to make my daughter extremely happy, Luke. It annoyed me that she could find that kind of happiness in you. However, I find that you making her sad exceeds my annoyance and rather infuriates me. Particularly when she's been very obviously sad for the last several months."

Emily stood.

"She still wants you, Luke. She still chose you. My daughter did not do so indiscriminately. Figure out your answer fast, and bring her home. And make sure she calls me in the morning. I am, actually, worried. She didn't look at all well when she dropped me off tonight."

And, having said her piece, Emily Gilmore returned to the car she'd hired in order to lecture the love of her daughter's life.

For Lorelai's sake, she hoped he'd heard what she was trying to tell him.


	2. Looking for Lorelai

**Chapter 2: Looking for Lorelai**

Luke stared after Emily's departing figure. As she ducked into the car waiting outside, she sent a long look his way. The big, dark sunglasses made it difficult to determine what the look meant, but her pursed lips gave him a clue.

Words from Emily's speech echoed in his ears. The rhythmic sound of the dishwasher seemed to push each syllable into a rhythm.

 _Lost her. Wants you. Chose you. Lost her. Lost her. Lost her._

Why would he have lost her? She knew he wanted time to figure out how to deal with April's arrival in his life. Since he'd met her, it had only been… he counted… just over six months. Had it already been six months?! Time had flown by so quickly.

It was almost June. The last time they'd had an actual talk about their relationship and postponed wedding, it had been February. That seemed to be quite a long time to go without that kind of discussion. In fact, it seemed their time together had begun diminishing. He recalled them barely missing a night together earlier in their relationship.

 _Lost her. Lost her. Lost her._

He'd suggested eloping. The look on her face had seemed to imply she was willing, though he knew she wanted a wedding. Truthfully, so did he. He'd eloped already once before. Nevertheless, neither an elopement nor a wedding had been brought up since February. And the original date Lorelai had planned for - June third - was just over a week away. He realized that might be preying on her a little.

Anna had been upset about Lorelai being at April's birthday party. She'd been upset because she didn't know Lorelai. His own fault, yet he recalled Lorelai completely disconnecting from him after he'd told her, as if it was her own doing.

 _Lost her. Lost her. Lost her._

Luke hadn't actually seen Lorelai in a few days. She hadn't even been by for coffee. The busiest he'd ever seen her was when she was preparing to open the inn, and she'd still found time to stop by at least once a day. He knew full well she wasn't even close to being that busy lately, especially if she could take the entire day off to play chauffeur for her mother.

Loathe though Luke was to admit it, Emily was completely correct on all counts. Lately, Lorelai was nothing more than a girl with a pretty ring that he happened to be dating. Except that, in reality, they were barely even dating. They talked when she'd pick up her coffee, there were quick hello and goodbye kisses, and occasionally they shared a bed.

Their conversations mostly centered around the banal - shared rants about Michel and Kirk and weird guests at the inn. He'd speak of April on occasion and block any feedback from her, though he couldn't actually remember the last time she'd done more than listen and give him one of the fake smiles he found so annoying. Or used to find annoying; Luke knew he mostly ignored them now, given their frequency.

Emily had told him to figure out what was complicated. April was not complicated. She was a pretty cool, relaxed, adaptable kid. Anna could make things complicated, but he'd already learned he couldn't allow her to dictate his interactions with his daughter. She'd gotten to do that April's entire life while he went about his own, oblivious to her existence. The situation with Lorelai was now extremely complicated, made so by months of neglect.

And he realized that he had no idea where she was, where she had been, or even what had been going on with her the past week.

Suddenly, Luke wished he still had that book on relationships. As soon as the thought entered his head, he realized he didn't need to see the book or hear the tape to know what it would say: open two-way communication was the foundation of love. Expressions of intimacy should be given freely and frequently. Let your actions speak your emotions.

Actions.  
Luke could be a man of action.  
He was once.

The simple ideas that had pushed him to finally pursue Lorelai were the same ones he'd need to use to keep her and win her back. He only hoped it wasn't too late.

Energized, Luke ran upstairs to change out of his grease-covered clothing and splash some cold water on his face. As he reached for a towel, he noticed Lorelai's stash of bathroom supplies on her shelf was heavily depleted and hadn't been replaced in quite some time. He recalled the last several times she'd stayed at his apartment and the presence of her overnight bag: the sign of a temporary guest, not someone who had a permanent place in someone's life.

Luke felt the panic rising in his chest.

He threw open his closet and grabbed several items of clothing, most of which he knew had previously taken up residence at Lorelai's and had been slowly migrating back to his apartment as he spent less and less time at her house.

Their house.

Why hadn't he just moved in? Even her small collection of shoes had disappeared from his closet. He reached for a duffel bag and noticed the one Anna had sent over. He remembered Lorelai's initial reaction, and immediate backpedaling, as she told him it was no big deal.

He kicked it across the room.  
Clothes could wait.  
He'd be lucky enough to even find her.

It occurred to him, amid many other chaotic thoughts, that he might call Rory first before driving around the state in a frantic hunt for the love of his life.

"Hullo?" came a quiet, tired voice.

"Hey, Rory, it's Luke, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Um, yeah, but it's okay. One sec while I move," Rory said quietly, silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "Okay, back. Sorry, Logan's meds kicked in, I got bored watching the documentary he had on, and I dozed off. He's pretty conked out, but I don't want to risk waking him up again since he has a pretty big day tomorrow."

"Meds? Are you at the hospital? Is Logan okay?"

"My mom didn't tell you?"

"No, is she there?"

"Uh, no… um, Logan got hurt while he was in Costa Rica with his friends. Some broken bones and internal bleeding, but he was released today, and he's at home recovering now. I assume Mom's at home, but I haven't talked to her since she was bored at Grandma's nail appointment."

"Oh. So she's talked to you today?" Luke asked, awaiting confirmation that it was truly him Lorelai was avoiding, though he was fairly certain he already knew the answer.

"Several very short calls throughout the day; she knows I've been busy. My grandmother's been driving her nuts all day, so she needed to let off steam here and there. Luke… if her phone's off, the battery probably just died, no big deal. Just go home, I'm sure she's there by now."

Not wanting to worry her, he replied, "Sure, right. Sorry, again."

"It's not a problem… but um, hey Luke? You really should talk to her. I know things have been pretty… off... between the two of you lately, and she's… said a few things… anyway, I don't want to intrude, I just thought I should say something."

Luke frowned, wondering what Lorelai had said to Rory. He hated feeling like everyone was noticing and hearing things he had either not been told and, worse, failed to notice.

"Yeah, I'm uh… working on that. Goodnight, Rory."

He took the stairs two at a time, quickly shut down the lights in the diner, locked the door, then bolted to his truck.

His first top was her house. The lights were out and, indeed, there was no sign of her jeep in the driveway. As he pulled up, he saw Babette with Paul Anka in the yard. As Luke opened his door, Paul Anka broke free of Babette, running to greet him.

"Hey there, little freakshow," he muttered as he bent down to ruffle Paul Anka's fur.

"Heya, Luke!" Babette called, following behind, "What're you doin' here?"

The fact that Babette was even asking when his presence several months ago had been normal and expected was just another sign things had gotten bad. Luke determined that admitting to ignorance about his fiancée's whereabouts was not going to help the situation, and decided to use a different explanation.

"Just coming home from a long day at the diner. Didn't Lorelai call you?" Luke kept his eyes on the dog, worried they might betray him.

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm walkin' this guy. She told me she wasn't sure what time she'd be back. Didn't mention anything about you comin' over tonight," Babette was already giving him the look he'd hoped to avoid.

"Oh, I guess we got our lines crossed," he chuckled nervously.

"Guess so," Babette replied suspiciously, "C'mon, Paul Anka, let's get you back inside."

In response, Paul Anka licked the side of Luke's jeans and sat on his boots, looking up at his latest companion with adoration.

"Ah, I can just take him, Babette."

"You sure, sugah? If Lorelai gets home and he's not here, I don't want her freakin' out or nothing," Babette was calling his bluff and they both knew it.

"Yeah, I'll see her before then anyway," he said, a little more assuredly than he actually felt as he opened the door and patted the seat. Paul Anka jumped up and immediately made himself at home on the passenger side of the truck, tail wagging happily at the prospect of going for a ride.

"Okay, night," Babette said, then turned to him hesitantly, "Y'know, I'll call Lorelai's cell phone just to be sure."

"I've got it covered, Babette," Luke grumbled. He hopped back in his truck and pulled out of the driveway, drove far enough to be just outside Babette's view, and parked on the side of the road as he pulled out his phone, hitting the speed dial.

"Hey, Lorelai, uh, your phone is dead or off or something, and I've been trying to get ahold of you. I, uh, have Paul Anka with me. Babette's probably going to call and tell you the same thing, but just in case, I wanted to let you know. So, uh, if you get this, call me. I need to talk to you."

He drove around town for a bit before heading to the inn, and after circling the front and back areas twice, determined she definitely wasn't there, and neither was Sookie.  
Sookie.  
Sookie's house would be his next stop. He felt a wave of relief as he saw the familiar jeep parked outside Sookie's and scolded himself for not checking there first, given the proximity to the diner. It should have been his first stop.

He parked, patted Paul Anka on the head, and pulled out his phone, bringing up Sookie's Cell from his contacts.

After a few rings, he saw her step onto her porch, raising her phone to her ear.

"Hey, Luke," her tone was upbeat, but the slouched shoulders, hanging head, and free hand pressed to her forehead betrayed her.

"Hey, Sookie. Is Lorelai there?"

"Uhhh... Luke, I don't think…"

"Sookie, I haven't seen her in three days, her phone's off, and I think I freaked out Rory a little already."

"You called Rory?" Sookie's head snapped up in reaction, and in doing so, immediately spotted him. "Oh, Luke," she said with a sigh as she ended the call and walked over to his truck.

He rolled down the windows slightly to give Paul Anka some air and got out, walking quickly to the sidewalk.

"Luke, what's going on?" Sookie asked quietly as she approached, taking the words right out of his mouth.

"Uh, I'm not… I don't know. I've been driving around… I've barely seen or heard from her in days… she said there was a meeting tonight, but I found out she left work this morning and hasn't been back, and I… I just need to talk to her," Luke stumbled over his words.

Sookie nodded, "Yeah, I was there for that call when she told you about the staff meeting. There wasn't one. I didn't get a chance to ask why she said that… uh, something else came up that I had to take care of."

"So she lied to avoid me," he ran his hand over his face, "This is bad."

"Yeah. It's pretty bad. But you knew that, right? I mean, Luke… it's not like this is news," she narrowed her eyes as she got a good look at his face, "It is, though, to you... isn't it."

His lack of answer was answer enough.

"Okay," Sookie sighed, "I'm not sure what to do here. My friend came over, with no warning, looking worse than she did during the entire time she didn't talk to her kid for almost six months. She's barely said a word other than to nearly knock the phone out of my hand when I offered to call you."

"I have to fix this, Sookie. Can you just tell her I'm out here?"

Luke didn't realize that Sookie was capable of the icy glare she shot him.

"You know I've been your biggest champion with her in the past, but I'm not so sure anymore, and this goes into violating sacred vows between friends."

"Sacred vows between fiancés don't count for anything?"

"No. Sacred vows between spouses? Maybe. But we're not standing here making last minute arrangements for the wedding that was going to take place in a few days now, are we."

Luke groaned, "Sookie, that's between the two of us."

"Except that when one of that 'us' is in _my_ house, asleep on _my_ couch, and seemed to run out of tears before she even made it to _my_ front door, I start to feel a _little_ involved."

"Okay, but how do you expect me to fix this when I can't even talk to her?"

Sookie was tempted to reply that he should've thought of that before he decided to break her best friend's heart, but that was her mothering instinct kicking in. And dealing with Luke wasn't as simple as explaining to Davey why he had to be careful with his little sister.

"It might be past the point of fixing, Luke," Sookie replied sadly.

"I don't believe that," Luke pleaded, unsure to whom he was offering his plea at this point, "What do I have to say to convince you-"

"She's not the one you have to convince," interrupted Lorelai's tired, strained voice from Sookie's porch, "Sookie, go on back inside, I'm sorry to have dragged this over here." She folded her arms tightly in front of her chest as she headed toward them.

"No, honey, you get back inside, I've got this," Sookie assured her friend, placing her hand on Lorelai's forearm and drawing a scowl from Luke.

"I think I heard Martha crying, and Jackson's hovering awkwardly in the living room. Go back to your family, Sookie, I'll be fine," Lorelai said quietly.

"Okay, but I'll leave the bedding on the couch. You're welcome back if you need it. Him too," she gestured to Paul Anka, and squeezed Lorelai's arm as she walked back inside.

Lorelai closed her eyes upon noticing her dog in Luke's truck, "You stopped at my house."

"I've been driving all over town, I had no idea where you were," he moved to put his hand on her shoulder, and she quickly ducked, taking a step back with her eyes to the ground.

"Lorelai," Luke gasped slightly at her reaction.

They stood there silently for several seconds.

Lorelai finally shifted her gaze from the ground up to Luke, "I can't do it anymore. So, if you have reasons lined up to convince me that I can, I need to hear them now."

"Um, okay. Well, first…" Luke sighed, "Can we do this inside? At home?"

"Home…" she huffed. "Whose home?"

" _Ours_ ," Luke emphasized the word heavily, watching her carefully, "I'll drive."

"Fine," she replied, almost inaudibly. Luke nearly sighed with relief. She didn't seem happy about it, but the fact that she agreed without making any further arguments gave him hope. He moved quickly past her to open the passenger door. Lorelai walked carefully around him and slid in, softly greeting Paul Anka. She lifted her arm to pet him and scratch behind his ear as Luke all but ran to the driver's side.

They drove the short distance in silence and, upon arriving, Luke told her to wait, again moving to open the passenger door for her. He held out his hand and she looked at it blankly, then back up at him as she spoke.

"It's the figurative door opening skills that need work, not the literal ones."

He nodded, but didn't move, so she sighed and took his hand, allowing him to help her down. Before she could turn to retrieve Paul Anka who, despite his car-entering abilities, was not a fan of jumping down from the truck, Luke lifted the dog and set him gently on the ground.

"You in for the night, Sugah?" Babette called from a window somewhere in her house.

"Yeah, Babette. Thank you for taking care of Paul Anka."

"Anytime! You call if you need anything," Babette's voice had a slight edge to it that Luke knew had everything to do with him.

"This town is entirely too protective of you," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you really have no idea," Lorelai laughed humorlessly.

Once inside, after handing Paul Anka a treat, she leaned on the arm of the couch, arms crossed in front of her as Luke stood a few feet away. He realized, since he was the one to talk her into coming home, he should probably be the one to start the conversation.

"I didn't realize how badly you've been hurting the last few months."

The look on her face told him this was not the right thing to say.

"That's not true," he amended quickly, "I ignored that you were hurting, and didn't realize how bad it had gotten. And for that I'm sorry. That was wrong of me."

"It's been more than a few months, Luke. More like-" Lorelai said quietly to the floor.

"Since you offered to postpone the wedding."

At that, she glanced up at him, a look of surprise on her face.

"Lorelai, I'm not that dumb, I heard your voice, I saw your face, and I took what I wanted from that conversation. Again, that was wrong of me, that's not how relationships are supposed to work. None of this has been how things are supposed to work. And before I keep apologizing and trying to fix things, I need to know something. You said you need reasons to convince you. I need one reason to do that. Do you still love me?"

"Of course I love you," she whispered, "I've spent the last week trying to figure out how not to, and I haven't come up with anything yet."

"Okay. That's good," Luke paused, making sure to maintain eye contact before he continued, "I love you, too. I need you to know that because I can't remember the last time I said it, and there's no point in trying to convince you of anything if you don't at least know that." She dropped her gaze immediately and Luke winced as he watched a lone tear fall, "And the fact that you're crying, when Sookie said you'd run out of tears earlier, tells me that it's been way too long since I've told you."

Luke's hands felt useless. He hated the way it felt when she'd flinched away from him a short while ago, and was afraid to try touching her again. As he rubbed his hands together nervously, he heard the damn annoying cassette tape in his head again, chiming in about actions and expressions of intimacy, and almost wished he hadn't revisited those thoughts at all.

Nonetheless, he moved forward slowly, reaching out for her face and cupping her jaw in his hands. He wiped away the few tears that had broken free with his thumbs. Now that he was getting a good look at her face, he noticed what Sookie was referring to, also confirming what Emily had said. Her eyes were slightly swollen, and he felt the guilt seep into his chest.

How many hours in his life had he spent gazing into her eyes, watching them sparkle over some shared joke or sentiment? He couldn't remember the last time he'd made them light up in amusement.

"I'm so sorry, Lorelai," he whispered, "Everything got so messed up so quickly. I feel like I've been stuck in this weird dream world, where I just lost sight of everything that's important to me."

When she reached her hands up to rest them on his, Luke took the first full breath he'd been able to since Emily first walked into the diner. He squatted down, holding her hands, and pulled them to his lips for a long moment before resting their hands on her lap. His eyes stared into hers as she looked over his face, likely seeking the door that had been shut to her for the past several months to swing back open. Her brow furrowed as she spoke.

"You've done this a few times before, you know. This isn't the first time. It's just the first time I don't feel like I've done anything to deserve it."

"A few times?"

"Way before we were even together. You can be a real jerk sometimes, Luke. And the worst of it is that you know me so well, you know exactly where to hit the hardest." When he didn't reply, she sighed, "I'm not going to pick at ancient wounds to jog your memory, it was a general observation."

"Oh, I don't need reminders. I just hadn't really made that connection. But you're right. Every time you've tripped off the pedestal I have you on, I've punished you like hell for it." Luke could recount every single time that had happened, both before and after their relationship had begun.

"I don't like pedestals. The first one I ever got placed on was Richard and Emily Gilmore's and it all came crashing down in a pregnancy and a lot of white tulle. I've spent my entire life paying for that embarrassment. I can't spend my life with you doing the same thing. I don't even know how I've even managed to fall from any pedestal right now, as it is."

"You didn't fall from it."

"Then take me down from it. Whatever pedestal it is, I never asked to be put on it."

"The Super Mom Pedestal." Even as he said it, he felt the nerves of parenthood nagging at him.

"Luke…" Lorelai stared at him disbelievingly, "Really? You haven't seen me crash and burn at parenting enough?"

"Or ever?"

"Call Rory and ask her opinion on that. I seem to recall the two of you bonding pretty well over Jess."

"He was a little shit. You were right to want to protect your daughter. I get that really well now." Luke thought of all the little potential punks running around April's school and felt his jaw twitch.

"I'm sure you do. That doesn't mean I handled it well. How about the summer she ran away to Europe with my mother?"

"You never told me what happened to cause that, and it didn't hit the Stars Hollow Grapevine loudly enough."

"Because Stars Hollow's favorite daughter was at the center of it. I don't know what magic Patty summoned, but the fallout was brief. Ugly, but brief."

"Fallout from what?" Luke asked, not pleased with the diversion, but genuinely curious.

"She slept with Dean, Luke. The night the Dragonfly opened. That's why-"

Luke pulled back and stood, hands on his hips. "I knew I hated that kid."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "He cheated on his wife, but Rory was fully aware of that fact. You can't hate him without also hating Rory. It was a dumb choice she made, but I handled that poorly as well."

"That's why you were weird when you came back to the inn that night. I thought you were second guessing-"

"No. I'd been distracted by the possibility of you and I all day. If Kirk hadn't run down those stairs, your room would've been known as lucky number seven…"

"That first date was worth waiting for, though." Luke smirked.

Lorelai couldn't help the smile that crept across her face as she recalled the beginnings of their relationship. The smile lasted only a second, though, as she was brought back to their relationship's present state. She couldn't help but compare how things were then to how they were now.

"I miss that," she said quietly. "Everything we were before that breakup."

"Me too. And I will spend the rest of my life working to get back to that if I have to."

She closed her eyes, "Luke... it's not that simple…"

"I don't agree. I've used the word 'complicated' so many times to describe my life this year, and it really isn't. April's a pretty uncomplicated kid. This crap with Anna? Not complicated. Pretty simple. She spent twelve years dictating my involvement by not involving me. And that's what I should've told her the second she went after us about the birthday party. The only thing that's complicated right now is you and me, and I know we can work it out."

"You and me are complicated by every single thing you just mentioned."

"I can work with that."

Lorelai went from aching to livid, and pushed off the arm of the sofa, walking into the center of the living room. She stared at the wall for a few seconds, letting all the anger and hurt and frustration she'd felt since January wash over her. He was saying every right thing she'd wanted to hear for half a year, but only now was she hearing it. She balled her hands into fists and spun to face him.

"You've spent the last six months not working on that. You suddenly realize I'm about to end it, and you have this revelation that it can all work?! And you expect me to just fall into your arms and agree with you?"

Luke stared at the floor. No, he hadn't expected that. He'd expected exactly what was happening. But he couldn't get past the fact that she was truly on the verge of ending things the past few days... and he didn't have a clue.

"I didn't realize you were about to end it until your mother walked into the diner tonight and told me to get off my ass," he confessed, bracing himself for the reaction.

"Uh. Excuse me?" Lorelai stared at him wide-eyed, "You wanna rewind there?"

"Among other things, she told me I was losing you if I hadn't lost you already. I couldn't get the part about having already lost you out of my head."

Lorelai slid into the nearby chair and dropped her head into her hands, groaning, "Oh my god," she pulled her head up to stare at him, "I don't even know what's worse, the fact that you were that blind or the fact that Emily Gilmore had to point it out to you. _Again_."

"Me either," Luke admitted, walking into the living room and sitting on the end of the couch closest to her. "In ten years, we've had more good than bad. You can't tell me that the last six months outweighs that."

"It's been a really bad six months, Luke. Without a doubt, the _worst_ six months of my adult life."

"And if we walk away from this tonight?" he asked, almost afraid of her answer.

"It sucks. For a really long time. And then one day, it hurts a little bit less."

"That sounds awful."

"That's life, hon," Lorelai smiled sadly, "Sometimes love really isn't enough."

"That's bullshit and I don't think you believe that at all," Luke frowned. "I think it is enough. I think it's enough to save things. I think… you should trust me - even knowing I'm in no position to ask that of you - and we should set a date. For a real wedding, no eloping. And while we plan that, we uncomplicate all the crap that's invaded our relationship."

She sat and toyed with her ring, spinning it around her finger as she thought. Luke wasn't liking the expression on her face. He put his hand on hers, stopping her nervous movements, and slowly pulled her engagement ring off her finger.

"Hey…" Lorelai reacted, and Luke found himself a little pleased to have caught her off guard, despite hating the action he was taking.

"No. You don't get to wear that while our relationship is sitting here in limbo," he slid it into his pocket, "If you decide you want it back, I'll give it back."

She bit her lower lip in thought, rubbing her empty ring finger. After a full, silent minute, she nodded.

"I told you to convince me. I need to know what you think we should do to uncomplicate stuff," she looked over at him, "I mean, specific details, Luke."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead…"

"Start thinking, then," Lorelai stood, holding her left hand awkwardly, almost as if it would float away without the engagement ring there to hold it down. "I'm making coffee. You want tea?"

* * *

 _Author's Notes: For anyone reading this right after I've posted it, I may not get the next two chapters edited and uploaded before dawn. In that case, I'll post 'em sometime tomorrow. I didn't mean to cliffhang you there, I swear!_


	3. Decisions

**Chapter 3: Decisions**

"What's that?" Luke asked, looking up as Lorelai returned with two mugs in one hand, and a plate in the other.

"Pie," she answered, sitting back in her chair. "Figured it would go nicely with coffee, and frankly, I could really use some comfort food right now."

"Where did you get it?" he frowned, not recognizing it as one of his or Sookie's.

"Weston's. I wanted pie the other night, and it was around seven. So…" she shrugged, "Do you want a list of the other places I frequent from five to eight most of the week?"

Luke grimaced. He knew he'd deserved that. He thought the first item on the list would be sorting out a wedding date. He was wrong. The more he thought about it, the more he realized their issues went far beyond that. This was less about a wedding date and more about committing. Sharing the life they'd begun creating together.

"Okay. So, first thing to fix is that. I don't care when you come into the diner. I don't care if you talk to April. I don't even care if you throw her another party."

"Her mom will."

"She was pissed about the slumber party thing and I can kind of get that and that's entirely my fault. I should've just introduced you and Anna months ago. So add that to the to-do list."

It was Lorelai's turn to grimace. She slid her plate onto the coffee table slowly and turned to look at Luke seriously, "We've already met. And it's not just the slumber party."

"What?" Luke found himself extremely confused.

"A few days after she chewed you out about the party, I… went to her store to talk to her, let her know she had nothing to worry about, try to get her to lay off you, and maybe if she let up on you, you'd let up on me."

Luke's eyes widened hearing it phrased that way, "Lorelai, I am so sorry…"

She nodded, "Well… she basically said she's nervous enough sharing her daughter with you, and that was so new, that she didn't want me in the picture until after we were married, just in case. So I tried, Luke, I tried so hard the last few weeks to be whatever it was you needed me to be to get through all this, figuring if I played by every one of your rules, you'd show up at the door one day with a handful of dates. Or maybe ideas for that beach elopement we talked about at the Vineyard.

"Instead, it just got worse. You were around even less, we saw each other even less, you spent almost every night at your place without the slightest hint I should stay with you. That's when I decided maybe I needed to do the same. See if it was possible to just let go altogether."

Lorelai's gaze dropped back to her left hand while she let Luke process. She'd taken the ring off a few times over the last few months, never for very long, but having it actually removed by Luke was a different feeling altogether.

"I don't even know where to start... Jesus, Lorelai. I had no idea. I want to ask you why you didn't say anything, but I can't because I know the answer already. I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry before it starts sounding like I don't mean it anymore, but I am. I am _so_ sorry. I never ever meant it to get like this."

"I know," she replied quietly, reaching for her pie, "In a way, I understand her perspective. It freaked me out when Christopher introduced Rory to Sherry. She wanted to be buddies go shopping, have her stay with them while she was at Harvard, be the cool stepmom type. Just hearing about that possibility freaked me out."

"But you still let her spend time with Rory," Luke pointed out, and Lorelai nodded. "So Anna can suck it up and let it happen too. We'll plan lunch or dinner this week and talk it over like adults. What she doesn't get is that if she'd told me about April in the first place, you and I still would've happened."

"Come on, you would've married her."

"Lorelai, you have no idea what our relationship was like. It was fun and convenient while it lasted. But it was never permanent and we both knew it, and it ended pretty amicably. I would've been there for April, but Anna and I's dynamic would've been exactly what it is now. It wouldn't have affected you and I at all. Except maybe April and Rory growing up together might've pulled us together faster."

"Well, it would've made us both feel dumb, if nothing else," Lorelai tried to imagine Luke as a single dad with a baby in the diner. The thing was, it wasn't strange at all. She'd always figured their own kids would probably hang out there fairly often.

"Yeah. Anyway, Anna will learn to deal with it. And if she doesn't… I already have a lawyer working on a custody case, anyway."

Lorelai's jaw dropped and she sat up straight.

"When? How?"

"One of the parents on April's trip and I got to talking one night. I have zero legal connection to April. If anything were to happen to Anna, hell, even to April, or to me… that's a huge mess. So I started researching family lawyers that specialized in paternity cases over the last few weeks."

"Wow."

"I'll - _we'll_ \- talk to Anna about it before the paperwork is fully drawn up. I don't want her blindsided by it. And I don't want anything ugly. I just want to be legally recognized as her father and make sure all three of us are protected by that."

Lorelai hadn't missed the deliberate correction of "I'll" to "we'll" and gave Luke a small smile to acknowledge it.

"I think that's good. Crazy how much not naming a father on a birth certificate can affect."

"It's ridiculous and unnecessary is what it is. My hatred for lawyers grew quite a bit after Nicole and even though I have a really good one working on our case, I still don't like to be around him for very long," Luke paused to take a few sips of his tea and reached over to steal a bite of Lorelai's pie. Mixed berry. His was far better.

"Get your own piece," Lorelai frowned.

"No," Luke replied, taking another bite for the sole purpose of annoying her.

"I knew I should've bought the turtle pie," she muttered, grabbing the fork from him.

"Turtle isn't pie. It's candy masquerading as a pastry, and it's disgusting."

Lorelai couldn't hold back the chuckle that escaped, and finished off the last bite of her pie before Luke could beat her to it. She grabbed her coffee and pulled her legs up under her in the chair, watching him. It almost felt too easy to succumb to the comfortable energy. She closed her eyes to breathe in her mug of coffee and sort through some of her feelings.

With everything Luke had just said, the issues of April and Anna were pretty much resolved... as much as they could be without them present. There was not much more she could argue or express concerns over. The diner visiting hours had been lifted, they'd deal with Anna, and Luke already had plans to ensure a legal connection to his daughter should Anna cause problems. It didn't fix everything, but it was a huge stride toward what needed to start happening… to what should've happened as soon as he found out about April.

"Half my clothes are laying on my bed," Luke broke the silence and Lorelai opened her eyes to give him a strange look. "I didn't realize how much of the stuff I was keeping here had wound up back at my place. It was a wakeup call and I didn't like it. So I was going to pack it, but realized I didn't have anything but garbage bags to put it in, so I left them sitting out. But I think we should just go over there and pack all of them up tomorrow anyway."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm moving in. I paid for most of the renovations. Hell, I've fixed almost every single thing in here at least once. This is my house too. And I don't really know why I didn't move in when we finished with the renovations."

"Me either. I didn't want to push you. And you didn't seem interested, so I just let it go. What happened to the bag Anna gave you?"

"I don't know. I kicked it and it landed somewhere and I didn't go looking for it," he shrugged.

Lorelai laughed. His nonchalant reply describing his actions was so, typically Luke. The Luke she would've heard that story from while seated at the counter grinning at him flirtatiously as he smirked back.

Luke wasn't sure why Lorelai was laughing, but hearing it made him smile. He'd missed that sound. His smile turned to a frown when he realized April's birthday was probably the last time he'd heard it.

"Would you be okay with that?" he asked.

"Yes, I would be. But I meant what I said last year. If you're here, you're here, you don't get to run off and hide at the apartment if you're pissed at me. And you _will_ get pissed at me."

Luke agreed, "I'll turn it back into an office. No beer, no bedroom furniture, nothing comfortable."

He considered what other weird issues had plagued their relationship and didn't like what came to mind, but knew it needed to be brought up. It was one of the few problems Luke still needed to hear from Lorelai on.

"There's still Christopher," Luke said.

"What about him?" she asked.

"He doesn't just complicate our relationship, he's damaged it on more than one occasion, and I still don't trust the guy. And I know he's been around more. Which is great for Rory and nerve wracking for me."

Lorelai nodded slowly, "And my parents are back in touch with him again. So he's… likely to be around."

Luke waited, tracing the lines of the couch they'd picked out. He loved this couch. He'd been the one to spot it and Lorelai had thought he was joking. But it reminded him of her and figured it would look good with the colors they'd finally chosen for the living room.

Lorelai continued, "I would say… same rules apply to Christopher as Anna. I'd officially introduce you as Rory's future step-dad, and from then on, if he wants one of us, he gets both of us. You should know he was very respectful at Lane's wedding."

"So you said. I still don't like that he carried you up to our bed."

"Luke, I was beyond wasted. It was a really, really bad night for me. And I'm not talking the Patricia LaCosta Revised Version of that night," Lorelai nervously played with her sweater as she spoke. She looked up at Luke. "This has nothing to do with Chris, but while we're talking about Lane's wedding, I need to bring this up."

"What revised version?"

"Remember when you mentioned the town being overprotective of me?"

"Yeah…"

"You're about to hear to what degree," Lorelai swallowed, "I walked into the diner the day after Lane's wedding, ready to face the music. In a way, I was almost relieved because I knew you would've heard by the time I got there, and there would've been some kind of blow-up, one way or another. But when I got there, Patty had manufactured this entire lie about a karaoke song."

"Endless Love."

"Right. You may recall, I tend toward Shania Twain when drunk, which should've been your first clue she was lying. Anyway, I didn't sing. I gave this mortifying toast about how I was never getting married. That Lane had managed to get married, Rory would, Rory's kid would, and then I wouldn't shut up about June fucking third," Lorelai closed her eyes, cringing at the memory, "I embarrassed the hell out of myself after that, too, but I don't remember much of that. The toast, though..." she opened her eyes and, seeing Luke's pained expression added, "Please don't apologize again."

"Okay," he bit back the apology that was sitting on his tongue, "So Patty made up the lie the next morning and spread it to the whole town. So I wouldn't find out," he covered his chin with his hand, leaning forward and rubbing his jaw, "Wow. Which means the entire town has been watching our entire relationship fall apart, and was aware of it, and I had my head so far up my ass, I was giving TJ advice today on knowing what your partner is feeling no matter what she's saying…"

Lorelai couldn't reply to that without agreeing heartily with the head up his ass comment, so she stayed quiet and sipped her coffee.

The more Luke thought about the toast, and the story he'd been told, the worse he felt.

"My town watched me treat my fiancée like shit for six months and thought her drunken toast was gonna make things so much worse that they - the entire damn town - made up a massive lie on her behalf. You realize that's far more embarrassing than what you did."

"Quite possibly," she said matter-of-factly as she leaned her head against the chair, not having considered it from that perspective.

Luke dropped his head into his hand in response. No wonder she needed to be convinced to keep their relationship going. He felt sick to his stomach.

"I'm gonna call a time-out and get some air," Luke said and walked quickly onto the porch, shutting the door softly behind him.

Lorelai stood to refill her coffee, then walked into Rory's room to observe Luke from the window. He was leaning forward with his head resting on the railing. Her love for him was not in doubt, but it scared her. It could be so easily manipulated to hurt her.

As Lorelai watched him, she realized how much she'd missed him. She was so tempted to walk outside and run her hands up his back and around his waist, reacquaint herself with his muscled abs and chest as she burrowed her face in the spot between his neck and shoulder. It had been awhile since they'd really touched each other. Sex for the last few months had been rare, and it when it did happen, it was little more than a means to an end - a far cry from the long, lazy mornings they'd spent together, and the endless romantic nights where sleep had been made up of tiny naps, as they'd been unable to get enough of each other.

She shook her head, trying to remove the images from her mind that she suddenly felt desperate to act upon and recreate. Though she was heavily leaning toward trusting Luke and moving forward with him and all these plans of his, she didn't want the final decision to be the result of her unfulfilled physical needs.

Lorelai gave him a few more minutes, then opened the door.

"Hey. Staying out here all night?"

"Been trying to figure out where the best spot to bury myself in a hole is."

She nodded, having done the same thing on more than one occasion, herself, and stepped aside as Luke walked back in, shutting the door behind him. He walked back to the living room, but turned to face her before sitting down.

"Lorelai… can I get some kind of clue as to what's going through your head right now? We've been talking for awhile, and I have no idea which direction it's even going."

"Better for you than me, maybe," she pursed her lips and dropped into the chair with a sigh.

"What does that mean?" he frowned at her, still standing.

"It means, I feel like we might be able to make this work, and I want to so badly because I've seen glimpses of what we used to have and I miss it. But I'm scared to death of feeling this way ever again. I'm not a weak person, Luke, and I've willingly let myself be hurt and left out of your life for almost six months. That's a terrifying reality for me."

"I know. And I don't take that lightly either. I will probably be a jerk again, I will probably hurt you in some way again, but I'd like to believe I've developed a little more self-awareness in the last few hours… enough that I'd prevent anything like this from happening again."

Lorelai nodded, "I'd like to believe that too."

He sat back down and rubbed his hand through his hair, "You're gonna have to work on forgiving me for all this and I get that."

"No. The forgiving part is easy. I think I forgave you almost every night, hoping for the best every morning. It's the trust part that's hard. Especially when we have all these plans and words now, and I have to be the one to trust that they'll actually happen."

"You know me better than anyone, even with the last six months under our belt, do you really think I'd be sitting here talking and talking if I was just going to drop the ball on all of this?"

"No. And that's why we're still here," she tugged on the sleeves of her sweater to pull them past her wrists and leaned into her chair, pulling her legs up under her again. "So… complications. Christopher? Resolved?"

"As much as he can be, I guess. I like the idea of he and Anna being filed away in the same drawer. Keeps both of us accountable to keep the other in the loop."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "But it still bugs you."

"He'll _always_ bug me. I just can't think of any other ways to make dealing with him easier. Kinda have to take it as it happens with him. I just needed to know where you stand with him because he's been around so much more lately."

"Honestly, I don't seek him out, and when he calls or shows up, I tell you. I already promised you last year not to keep secrets. That's not going to change. The only thing that _will_ change is if I see him in person, you'll be there too."

"And suddenly, I'm thinking, maybe I lose here, having to see him in person at all," he joked. "Which brings up another thing… we're merging our little worlds here, right? Ripping stuff out of our little boxes and throwing 'em all together?" She nodded. "Okay, so your mom is the one responsible for us having this conversation. If that's not a sign of support for our relationship, I don't know what is. Plus that last dinner we went to… I should probably make more of an effort to be part of the family dinner scene… what?"

Luke stopped as Lorelai stared at him wide-eyed.

"Did my mom... mention anything about where we went?"

"All around southern Connecticut."

"Okay. Well. Um. Yes, I would say they definitely support our relationship, to such a degree that they want to buy us a house."

Luke shook his head, confused, "A house? Wh… I… what?"

"Remember me freaking out about them showing up here? They were looking at houses. But for us."

"Who buys someone a house?!" Luke hopped to his feet again.

"She said she knows I won't let them throw the extravagant wedding they've always wanted for me, which apparently, in Emily World, costs the same as a house. So they want to buy us a house as a wedding present instead. Their method of doing things the Gilmore way but in a way I wouldn't hate."

"Wouldn't _hate_? You don't even want to move."

"I was dealing with the fact that I'd just lost my daughter, so no, at the time, I really couldn't see myself moving."

"And you can now?"

"I want to see it in person first… but… Luke, this house… I never would've thought my mother knew me, or even us, that well."

Luke stared. If he thought Emily stopping by the diner was weird, this was downright absurd. Not only were the Gilmores trying to buy them a house, Lorelai almost seemed okay with it. He wondered if he actually was stuck in some kind of dream.

"What's the stipulation?"

"It's a wedding present… so I assume an invitation might be warranted."

"I just feel like there's always something with them."

Lorelai cocked her head, "You realize there hasn't been for awhile, right? We started going back to dinners in January. Completely obligation-free. To be completely honest with you, after we got over the first few dinners, it's actually been nice."

"And something to do between five and eight, huh?" Luke asked Lorelai with a sad smile as he sat back down.

"That too," she said quietly. "House or not, you don't have to go, Luke, they're my parents."

Luke disagreed. He'd said once that he was "all in" and that should include having to deal with your partner's family whether you liked it or not. However, he didn't feel like arguing the point. If the way she was talking was any indication, she was leaning heavily toward making their relationship work. If that was the case, they could discuss it at length some other time. He slowly moved to the coffee table, leaning forward a little and dropping his hand to her knee.

"What's it like… this house?" he asked.

"Big, but it doesn't look it, it's not massive and sprawling. The exterior looks a lot like this one. Three acres, I know you like the outdoors… it has stables… you'd have your own pond or fishing hole or something," her focus dropped down to the coffee mug she was holding on her lap. "Five bedrooms… April could have her own space."

"Five, huh?" Luke asked, rubbing his thumb across her knee, trying to draw her gaze back up to his face.

"And a library."

"Necessary, considering the amount of books we'll accumulate among Rory, April, and our kids," Luke casually pointed out, trying not to smirk as he her eyes shot up to meet his, "Face it, we're destined to be surrounded by smart, geeky readers."

Lorelai drew in a slow, shaky breath. She knew they were done talking about their relationship, and knew that Luke was fully aware that she wasn't giving up on him.

Luke saw it in her eyes, the second she accepted it. Her eyes told him everything, and now that he was truly looking into them again, he knew: she was scared, but still wanted it all, and most importantly, she wanted it with him.

He gazed back intensely, hoping he was relaying how he felt as well… that he wasn't taking this lightly, and wouldn't let her fall into the background like that ever again.

He slowly took the coffee mug from her, replacing it with his hands.

"I have three options for you. You can pick one, or if you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears. One, you charm the pants off the people you made our original plans with and see when the next available date is, and see if they'll use our old deposits. Or we just make new ones."

Lorelai shook her head, "No. That wedding was canceled."

"Option two, you and I sit down tomorrow and figure out when we want our wedding. We pick a general timeframe, do some research, go venue hunting over the weekend, set a date. After we've covered all our details, you can drag the BF... BOF... whatever acronym it was Sookie used... into it and talk about flowers and bridesmaid dresses and cakes."

"I liked hearing your input that day at the diner with Sookie," she slowly traced his knuckles with her thumbs, "What's the third option?"

"Option three, there's this really nice inn here in Stars Hollow. It was actually my first choice for a wedding venue. I happen to know the owner, and as an investor, she might be willing to cut me a last minute deal. If you can put a wedding together in two weeks, I can talk to her, and the chef who runs the kitchen there, and see if they're willing to let us have a June third wedding."

"You wanted to get married at the Dragonfly?" a curious smile crossed Lorelai's face. "Why?"

"First place I finally got to do this," Luke pushed himself forward, bracing his hands on either side of the chair as he bent down to kiss her softly and slowly. She ran her hands up his arms, settling them on his clavicle. Eventually, he gently pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, as he said quietly, "For awhile there, I didn't think that was going to ever happen again."

"Me either," she whispered. "Hey, uh, Luke?" she let her hands slide down a few inches as she moved back to look up at him. She tapped her left hand on his chest, "Can I have my ring back now?"

Luke stood up to pull the ring out of his pocket and looked at it for a few seconds before looking back at Lorelai, "Nope. Because," he paused to sit back down on the coffee table, leaning forward on his elbows and resting one hand on her knee again, "Sookie got after me last time and said you're not really engaged unless you have a date. Your mother called you my girlfriend this evening because fiancée implies a future wedding."

"It's nice when she's playing for my team," Lorelai chuckled, "We can't do June third at the Dragonfly. Or June third at all, actually. A few weeks ago, I specifically booked a huge, all-day event there for the third so I'd be distracted," she watched Luke's shoulders droop slightly as he sighed, "Don't. It was a different date for a different venue, it doesn't bear any significance aside from that wedding working out for that date. But I do happen to have access to the brain of Dragonfly's owner. Scoot."

Luke stood and stepped aside, watching Lorelai as she walked to her purse and pulled out her planner. There was a very slight spring in her step that he hadn't seen in awhile. Her shoulders lacked the defeated slump he'd seen for months. Seeing her coming back to herself made him smile, though he couldn't help the pain in his chest knowing he'd caused it to happen in the first place.

Lorelai caught Luke staring at her and made a face at him. She sat on the edge of the couch, patting the cushion next to her. Luke sat down and she swung her legs up over his lap. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him as they looked at the month of June.

"Michel is teaching pilates at the inn?!" Luke snorted.

"No, taking a class somewhere. Someone - _me_ \- needs to cover for him during that timeframe. Focus on weekends, that's on Wednesdays."

"You attached to any particular day? Geez, you guys are slammed in July."

"Full occupancy the whole month. July is out. The third was a Friday. It doesn't have to be a Friday. I kinda like Sundays."

"Me too, I kinda like the twelfth," Luke taped the square.

"June twelfth. _June_ twelfth. June _twelfth_ ," she tested it out. "I like it. Does it sound right?"

"Sound right…" he repeated, thinking that was the least of his worries, "It sounds fine, but is it too soon for you?"

"Late," she said, reaching for her cell phone on the coffee table. "Let's check with the caterer." Lorelai began texting Sookie:

 _YOU UP?_

 _need me to let you in?_

 _NO I HAVE A LAST MINUTE RSRVTION DFLY. Q FOR YOU._

 _ur at work?!_

"Gah!" Lorelai grew impatient punching numbers, speed-dialed Sookie, and hit the speaker button.

"Lorelai, go home. Why are you working!?" Sookie's voice scolded.

"I'm at home, but got a possible last minute reservation. You have anything crazy lined up for June, event-wise?"

"Yeah, the third, we have that all-day corporate team building thing that I'd complain more about if they weren't paying us so much."

"Aaaanything else you can think of? Around the twelfth?"

"No, what reservation is this?"

Lorelai gazed at Luke, "A wedding."

"What the hell?!" Sookie's voice grew loud and Lorelai could hear Jackson shushing in the background reminding her the kids were asleep. She added a little more quietly, but no less hysterically, "Who calls this late at night, this last minute, trying to set up a wedding for the twelfth of June?!"

"Well, it was originally scheduled for the third…" Lorelai grinned at Luke, who shook his head.

"What? There was a wedding scheduled for June thir- OH M-"

The call disconnected, and Luke and Lorelai both burst into laughter. While she waited for Sookie to call back, she lifted her hand up to hold Luke's face, pulling it down for a kiss, this one a little more insistent than the last, and she felt Luke's hand slide from her calf up to her knee, moving slowly up her outer thigh. She ignored the ringing phone until the third ring, and finally pulled back.

"You were saying?" Lorelai answered.

"Tell me my phone didn't just die in vain when I dropped it on the kitchen floor!"

"A wedding previously scheduled for the third has been rescheduled for the twelfth, but that's very soon and there's a lot of work involved."

"And you're having it at the Dragonfly!?" Sooke squealed.

"The groom, it seems, wanted it there all along," Lorelai grinned, leaning her cheek into Luke's chest.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. It makes such perfect sense. I like this so much better. The twelfth. Okay, yeah, we can do that. Oh my god, I have to find my folder, oooh! And that cake topper! And did you like that s'more cake because we can do that. That's so fun for a summer wedding. Oh, but the mocha one! Coffee, hello! Hey, are you there?"

"Just waiting for an opening. We can talk about those details later, I just need to know you're on board for this."

"Of course I am, are you insane?! I take it that means whatever's up with you two is-"

"Being worked on, yes."

"Man. I wanted to kill him tonight. I might've too, but my good knife is at work."

"That's terrifying." Luke muttered.

"LUKE?! You're there?! Lorelai! You have me on speaker!?"

"Sorry, hon. This time, wedding planning involves the groom."

"Yeah, I kinda went a little overboard there last time. Sorry, Luke." Sookie said softly.

"That's okay, Sookie. I don't need input on everything. Just some things. And check in with me when you guys are close to a decision on the other things."

"Absolutely."

"Sookie, we'll talk more later, I just wanted to call and see if you thought we could pull this off before we finalized the date."

"SHARPIE IT IN! Oh my god, I need to start making lists… Lorelai, I'm gonna let ya go. I have a million things to do before I go to bed."

"Okay," Lorelai smiled, "And thank you. For this and for being there for me tonight."

"And for leaving the good knife at work," Luke added.

Sookie burst into giggles before saying goodbye and ending the call.

Luke pulled the pen out of its spot in Lorelai's planner, and wrote "LUKE & LORELAI WEDDING" adding an awkward looking heart below it.

"Aw, that's precious. But you forgot a time," she pointed out.

"Early evening," he said without hesitation.

Lorelai grinned, still a little surprised at the things he had a strong opinion about. For someone who'd been so hesitant for this day to come about, he certainly knew what he wanted.

"Four o'clock, then?" she asked, and he nodded, writing in the time.

"Who are we inviting?" Luke asked, flipping to the "notes" pages in the planner.

"Uh, I think it's a little late for that. Easier to just let Patty spread the word. We can just call whatever family we want there. Mine would just be my parents and Rory. My mom can deal with the rest of the family not being there."

"Liz and TJ…" Luke hesitated, "You mind if I invite Jess?"

"I always assumed he'd be part of the wedding party," Lorelai shrugged.

"Wedding party. I forgot about that," Luke groaned. "I assume Rory and Sookie are yours?" She nodded. "Small, that's good. Jess, then. And... I'd really like April to be a part of this."

"Rory was my dad's best man at my parents' vow renewal," Lorelai offered. "Have her be your ceremonial best man, while Jess does the official signing."

"Ah, I like that. And it kinda forces Anna's hand and allows April to be a part of it all while also forcing Jess to show up."

"Luke," she chided, "Jess may have needed convincing for Liz's wedding, but there is no way in hell he'd miss yours."

Luke recalled his conversation with Jess in Philadelphia and knew she was right.

She shut the planner and nuzzled Luke's chest. "I can't believe this is actually happening."

"I guess not, you're forgetting something."

"Huh? Hey!" she cried as he gently pushed her off of him and moved to sit in front of her on the floor, "What did I forget?" Luke held up her ring and it suddenly hit her why he was kneeling, "Oh."

"Yeah, 'Oh.'" he chuckled, reaching for her left hand, "I should probably be sitting here on both my knees begging you to forgive me, but you already told me I can't apologize anymore tonight. You proposed the first time because you knew exactly what you wanted. I'm proposing this time because I know exactly what I want. Lorelai Gilmore, will you marry me on June twelfth?"

"Yes."

Luke slid the ring back onto Lorelai's finger where it belonged, and they quickly reached for each other, pouring every emotion from the last few hours, weeks, months, and years into their kisses.


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Hey, kid," Lorelai whispered, holding her cell phone to her ear, her voice rough from sleep.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. You were asleep. You were still asleep?! It's noon!"

"Didn't get much sleep last night," she smiled a little, looking at Luke, sprawled on his stomach, still out cold next to her.

"Oh! I should let you-"

"No, no, it's fine, I'm awake. What's up?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. Mom, Luke called me last night looking for you. I told him you were fine, but I wasn't so sure… I told him he really should talk to you… did you see him at all?"

"Um, yeah. Rory, I have some news. I'm engaged."

"Uh… Mom, I have bigger news. You've been engaged for like a year."

"Well, Luke actually proposed. On one knee. And there's a date now. So it's more like a really real official engagement."

"Luke on one knee?! And a date! Oh, Mom, I'm so happy. Fall wedding? Winter?"

"June twelfth."

"Really. I thought you'd want something sooner."

"Well, three weeks is a bit long, but it's the best we could do without eloping."

"June twelfth of _this_ year?!"

"You busy?"

"No, no. That's perfect, actually. Oh my god, you're getting married. In three weeks. Wow, what happened last night? Luke finally came around?"

"We're working things out. We have a wedding to-do list and a fixing-the-relationship to-do list, but I think we'll pull it all off in time."

"Whossat?" a delirious-sounding Luke croaked without opening his eyes, reaching his arm around Lorelai's waist and moving his head to her shoulder. She wrapped her free arm around him and played with the curls at the nape of his neck.

"It's Rory," she replied.

"Mmm, good. Was s'posed to tell you to call her. And your mom. Forgot."

"Go back to sleep, hon," Lorelai smiled. He kissed her shoulder and sighed contentedly before falling back to sleep.

"Luke is still there? And I woke you… aw man. I'm hanging up. Tell him I said congratulations. Call me back when you're both dressed and not in bed."

Lorelai laughed softly, "I will. Have fun at Logan's graduation and tell him I said congratulations as well. Oh, hey you wanna be my maid of honor?"

"Um, _yes_. We'll arrange a time to go shopping when you call me later. I love you, Mom, I am so, so glad everything worked out."

"Me too, kid. Bye."

Lorelai grinned widely, stroking Luke's muscled shoulders. She leaned her head against her sleeping fiancé's. The position wasn't particularly comfortable, but she relished the contact too much to readjust, and started to doze lightly until her phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's your mother."

"Hi, Mom. I'm okay."

"Good. I was worried. You were a mess when you left."

"How's your eye?"

"Better, thank you for asking," Emily paused and Lorelai could hear her take a nervous breath, "Lorelai... "

"He found me, Mom."

"And?"

"We set a date. And you're going to freak out because it's coming up quickly, but it works out for us. June twelfth at the Dragonfly."

"June twelfth," Emily repeated softly, "Oh, Lorelai, I'm glad."

"There's something else."

"Please do not tell me you're pregnant."

Lorelai snorted, "No, Mom. We want to look at the house this week, before we get too caught up in the rush of a last minute wedding."

"Okay. I'll arrange it and call you later. Lorelai, are you sure everything is okay with you now? Last night..." Emily drifted off.

"Better than okay."

"All right then. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Actually, I know you have some connections with florists… can you set something up for you, me, Rory, and Sookie?" Lorelai smiled at the surprised gasp on the other end of the phone.

"I would love to. I'll call you later with the details."

"Thanks, Mom. For everything. I don't think this would be happening if you hadn't shown up and beat Luke over the head with reality."

"Well, he better make you happy."

"He does. And will continue to do so. I'll talk to you later."

Emily walked into Richard's study and pulled a business card from a pile of papers, dialing the number listed.

"Good morning, Lorene, this is Emily Gilmore. I'd like to arrange another viewing of the house as soon as it's most convenient."

* * *

 _Author's Notes: And thus was "Partings" prevented.  
_ _No, it's not completely untangled and uncomplicated, just significantly less so. No relationship is perfect, and in real life, successful relationships are less about having every last complication worked out and more that you are dedicated to actually working them out (because there will always be SOMETHING). And, yes, I decided Luke was doing quite a bit more than just sitting on his ass waiting for his life to orient itself without having to actively help it, and I decided he'd been looking into a custody lawyer. Because the Luke I knew from past seasons got shit done, damn it, and he deserved to make a comeback in season 6._


End file.
